Fear and Loathing in the VMX bunker

[farmer58za]

Agreed
If you aren't able to ride your bikes, let the kids ride.

And furthermore, about the hoarding, a lot of the "hoarders" have haken the time, effort and money to seek out and acquire the bikes they want....


Regards
David
 

The way to go, is to have kids. That way all your bikes are still raced and you also spread the word to a new generation.

It costs the same as racing yourself but you get to bask in the glow of being called 'sponsor' (still broke, but with a Title...) The motocross is still fun and you can actually get out of bed unaided on Monday morning.

The good bit is that the breeding is also nearly as much fun as the racing. The motos seem shorter these days though 

[TooFastTim]

I don't necessarily agree with the Stig but concede he has a point.

But for a decent collection see here: http://www.retrotrials.com/page-1---europes-largest-collection-of-spanish-motorcycles.html

[GD66]

Jeez, that's outrageous ! 

[Nathan S]

The laws of supply and demand mean that the more people own/collect/hoard multiple bikes, the higher the prices of the remaining available bikes will go.

No judgement there, just an observation.

------

Looking around at the faces at VMX meetings, CDs, HBBBs and Vinduros, I can't help but think that VMX is going to take a solid hit in the next few years, as the core group of riders retire.
It seems clear that about half the current riders won't be riders in a decade's time.

[35elsinore]

Hoarders, collectors, good luck to those that can afford to do this. If I had the cash I would to. I have no garage queens as all my bikes are raced but I would like some. I think a big injuctiece to VMX is when someone has a bike for sale we seem to get the negative comments on that the bike isnt worth what there asking. If someone is keen on the bike and willing to pay what someone is asking, as soon as there is a comment that the bike isnt worth that , then the potential buyer thinks second. I believe if your not interested in the bike at that price or buying it at all then but out. Only my opinion, hope it doesnt offend anyone.

Cheers Troy

[firko]

Anyone who thinks that kids are even remotely interested in the bikes we're interested in is clearly delusional. Throughout the last 25 years I've seen many kids riding their dads bikes but I didn't detect any particular passion from them for the bikes. They're involved purely out of loyalty to Dad and the free ride. Once dad leaves the sport, so does the bike and so does junior.

  I can't help but think that VMX is going to take a solid hit in the next few years, as the core group of riders retire

And that's exactly what happened in the late 90's as the first generation of vintage racers retired from the sport. It took some drastic re vamping of the VMX product with new era cutoffs, VMX magazine opening our sport to new enthusiasts and fun events like Classic Dirt to fuel the revival we're enjoying today. In a decade a new generation of enthusiasts will come along on the strength of pre 2000 racing and it'll start all over again.

[Nathan S]

Further thoughts on the Seige article (which are partially redundant thanks to 247's and Firko's posts that went up while I've been typing).

I'd say that 80~90% of people get involved in VMX to enjoy the bikes they owned or aspired to, in their own personal "Golden Era" - there are variations, but its typically our mid-late teens to early twenties, on bikes that were new or nearly new at the time.
I'd estimate that 5~10% get involved simply because dad races VMX, and they tag along.

Only once people are involved in the sport, do they start seriously considering bikes from 'out of their era' - and it's surprisingly easy to get people onto older era bikes, particularly one or two eras older than 'their era'.
But the number of people who jump straight into an older eras is tiny. If we are counting on them to sustain the sport into the future, the older eras of the sport are doomed.

Look at the rider demographics of VMX in its boom days: hugely biased toward riders about forty years old, on bikes that were about twenty years old.
Nowdays, the demographic is biased toward blokes about 50 years old with the most popular class being for bike that are about 30 years old...
It's no coincidence that 50-30=20 and 40-20=20...

-----

The boom times of VMX were when the sport appealed most to riders who were in their mid-thirties to mid-forties. It stands to reason: it's the group who are most likely to have the income/family/mortgage pressures under control, and still be fit/energetic enough to want to go racing.
The relatively new Retro MX/Northern Districts (pre-90) club here in NSW supports this - the median age is about ten years younger than Heaven's.

40 minus 20 still equals 20.

-------

It might seem odd, but all of the above seems to add up to one thing to me: to ensure the longer term health of the older classes, we need to embrace the newer era classes.
A serious, renewed publicity drive (outside of the VMX world) will be a huge help for VMX generally, including the older eras, but the long term health of those older eras is dependent on the strength of the newer VMX classes.

[mboddy]

You also need to look at why people may leave the sport or not compete in the big title events.
If you are going to have kids racing then they need to be racing against their peers not us old guys.
Having a bunch of 17 year olds racing for an Aus VMX Title is obscene.
But that is where it is going.
I don't want to race against anyone under 25. 

[Ted]

You also need to look at why people may leave the sport or not compete in the big title events.
If you are going to have kids racing then they need to be racing against their peers not us old guys.
Having a bunch of 17 year olds racing for an Aus VMX Title is obscene.
But that is where it is going.
I don't want to race against anyone under 25. 

What if these same kids starting riding VMX at the age of 12

[the stig]

You also need to look at why people may leave the sport or not compete in the big title events.
If you are going to have kids racing then they need to be racing against their peers not us old guys.
Having a bunch of 17 year olds racing for an Aus VMX Title is obscene.
But that is where it is going.
I don't want to race against anyone under 25. 

What if these same kids starting riding VMX at the age of 12

   
      Good Point Mark and Ted  i am building up a sl125 Honda for my grandson  ( 13 )to
      start riding Vinduro  and VMX perhaps limit the Size of the bike  ..for juniors..
      I think we have to get them Interested before they get the Car/ Girlfriend stage of
      life. lets face it how many of us had to slow down with bikes while we raised a Family.
      But then came back in there Later years..

      The Stig
     
      The Stig
     

[ksithumper]

Anyone who thinks that kids are even remotely interested in the bikes we're interested in is clearly delusional.

That's not been my experience Firko. Our pre-65 and pre-74 scene has a number of youngsters riding and some younger 'older' guys too (35 years old or so)- and scarily, even pre-74 is 40 years ago so these guys are not running on fond memories of 'back in the day'.

I sometimes take an old bike to race in the Dads class at the local schoolboy meets,  the kids were knocked out at the sight and sound of a CCM, most of them have never been exposed to older bikes, they can't remember a time before KTMs were orange ( if they were even born then).

My 15 year old has very little interest  in MX (he prefers throwing himself down hills on a pushbike) but let him near my old Montesa and he will ride non stop 'til the tank is dry.

Old bikes are cool, more so now than ever. That is evident everywhere with street bikes but it's no less so with dirt bikes. However they don't teach mx history at school so the kids need to be shown what it is all about. Club meetings with an old bike class  (anything pre-1995 will do) are a good place to start. Give a few On any Sunday shirts and DVDs as prizes for the young guys....

[Nathan S]

Correct me I I'm wrong, but the "young punks" angst seems to come from the A-grade blokes who borrow a bike just to win an Aussie title... The young guys who are genuinely into the old bikes are welcomed with open arms, regardless of how fast they are.

The lack of distinction between the two groups is quite damaging to the sport - it usually comes across as whinging old men...

[ksithumper]

It's a fair point though that many guys in their 40s or 50s don't necessarily want to be lining up against wild-riding 20 year olds.

Classes split by rider age, or by rider ability, seem to sort that out. 

[TM BILL]

Correct me I I'm wrong, but the "young punks" angst seems to come from the A-grade blokes who borrow a bike just to win an Aussie title... The young guys who are genuinely into the old bikes are welcomed with open arms, regardless of how fast they are.

The lack of distinction between the two groups is quite damaging to the sport - it usually comes across as whinging old men...

fork off Nathan , i hate it when you make sense 

[VMX247]

Correct me I I'm wrong, but the "young punks" angst seems to come from the A-grade blokes who borrow a bike just to win an Aussie title...

where, when and who ?
Like it or lump it ~ kids are the future